September 2024 articles

An Auckland roading specialist says even if freight operators have to pay congestion charges, they’ll probably still make on the deal. Michael Roth, the Auckland City Lead Transport Advisor, is one of the team looking at introducing congestion charges to Auckland.

The Government’s new National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) could easily have been renamed the “highway funding project”, given its intense focus on road building. Released this month, the plan outlines funding priorities for the next three years. If it comes to fruition, much of the spending will be driven into major highway schemes, and steered away from sustainable transport alternatives for the main cities. 

We would like to formally thank Chris Gunn Life Chartered Member for his many years of service to the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, to the Southern Section Committee, and (since 2019) as the National Membership Manager. Chris recently retired (again) to focus on his other interests. 

James Paul talks to Jim French of Teletrac Navman about the state of the civil construction sector and why local supply chain challenges may persist. The 2024 Construction Industry Survey, an annual collaboration between vehicle and asset management provider Teletrac Navman and industry association Civil Contractors New Zealand (CCNZ), reveals a civil construction sector in crisis, resulting from a lack of work in the market. 

Empty container depots, like so many other activities in logistics, are an under-appreciated link between importer and exporter. Representing the “dehire” point for an importer, the depot receives each container individually, before cleaning, repairing, and storing it, ready for an export booking. 

Infrastructure and asset management professionals are lauding the Government’s 30-year National Infrastructure Plan. The president of Āpōpō Gary Porteous says it’s long past due that New Zealand has a bi-partisan, strategic view about infrastructure development and management. 

After six and half years, Dr Simon Kingham shares his views on his time as the Ministry of Transport’s first Chief Science Advisor.

Cybercrime is set to cost global economies more than $20 trillion U.S. dollars by 2026. The logistics industry has been forced to adapt to an increasingly digital world. New technologies like AI and automation promise to streamline operations and enhance operations, but digitisation creates vulnerabilities as cybercriminals seek to exploit these advances for their own financial gain. 

Several senior scientists discuss the emissions reduction plan on behalf of the public health communication centre. The government has released its second greenhouse gas Emissions Reduction Plan for consultation. The proposed plan removes major policies developed by the previous government that were likely to be effective in reducing emissions. It relies instead on emissions trading and technological advances, the latter of which are highly speculative and uncertain. 

The CLIT’s transport research and educational trust (TRET) is calling for applications for a research grant of up to $15,000 (or two smaller grants). 

In an AutoSense podcast hosted by Greg Murphy, former All-Black and mental health advocate Sir John Kirwan (JK) says transforming ordinary tasks like these into daily rituals can help safeguard mental well-being—and in an industry rife with anxiety and depression, that’s got to be good news.